The Obama Administration has expressed support in the proposed federal budget for diagnostic imaging preauthorization for Medicare, a controversial cost-saving strategy that the Government Accountability Office proposed and the Department of Health and Human Services swiftly rejected in 2008.

A line item in the proposed budget for fiscal year 2010, sent to Congress Feb. 27 by the White House, asks to “ensure that Medicare makes appropriate payments for imaging services through the use of radiology benefit managers.”

The budget assumes five-year savings of $70 million and 10-year savings of $260 million through the use of prior authorization.